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bobohbob

i noticed that the new library & the new walgreens are also strikingly similar. add in the fitness center and the three designs are a bit uninspiring. but you can’t win ’em all…….and that stretch of broadway will certainly look a bit nicer.

Anthony Chacon

A low cost gym in the area is just what we REALLY need. I know there is a small inexpensive gym at the corner of Clark and Ridge, but I know little about it and it does not look like the sunniest place. There are a individual training couple studios along Clark as well but are insanely expensive. Cheetah is a bit overpriced too, even if it is clean and has two locations in the area but there is no Pool and for those prices there is usually something like that extra. I used to belong to Cardinal Fitness out in Suburbia and for $19 a month I was a member of a clean gym with new equipment. There is one out on Lincoln and Peterson but I think it is a CHarter Fitness now (same thing as a Cardinal I think?) Cheetah is usually three times the price of a Cardinal unless you have a new contract or select the single location option. I am not sure about LA FItness prices, but if they are even $10 more than Cardinal I think it would be worth switching for as often as I use the classes.

LA Fitness is $39 a month, whereas EA and every other place in the area is $59 a month or more. You can also add a family member for $29 a month. Plus this will be a brand new building with brand new facilities. Also

Jim Olson

It’s certainly better than the architectural violence done to the front of that building whenever the gold flashing was put up.

Would have loved to see a great indoor/outdoor pool in this plan…so many kids/parents in the area would flock to a facility like that.

Katie Keating

So thrilled to have a nice, full-service gym coming in! Just in time for next winter it sounds like.

Mike

the library is HIDEOUS–why the orientated it on a corner like that to close it in is BEYOND me–Figures that only large corporate money could afford that corner, makes me wonder then what Trader Joe’s real excuse was for not putting a location in where the Aldi is now ( same company BTW)….was it b/c they could not sell alcohol?? I guess this is good for the neighborhood.

Anne Branson

Support a local business, join Edgewater Athletic Club at Kenmore and Grandville. They have good equipment and great staff and have been sited by many as a great deal. Chicago Mag just listed them as one of the top 10 gyms in Chicago. http://www.edgewaterathletic.com/

Theresa Markham

I hate this. I thought they were going to preserve the feel of the neighborhood. There’s a nice gym in the sovereign, even if it does always smell like chlorine.

mike_thoms

I think as a jumping off point Broadway is just going to have to be boring buildings like this, the library and the Walgreens. Those are going to be three great anchors for the area, plus that 63 restaurant a little further up, the new liquor store, Granville. Pretty soon Thorndale won’t be disputed gang territory and the empty shops will fill up and Edgewater will thrive.

Mark

Overall happy with a gym at that location. The indoor/outdoor pool would be great, but quite unlikely. As for the library- not a big fan of the design, but most frustrated that parking is on the side instead of off the alley like the old one.

cera

Hope Hancock Fabrics finds a new location nearby. There are dozens and dozens of gyms in this town, but hardly any fabric stores. For those of us who sew (I know, we’re a dying breed), it is truly a loss…

Jim Olson

I was at the Hancock in Schaumberg not long ago, and they are heartbroken about the Edgewater store closing. I talked to the store manager, and they are genuinely looking for another place nearby to reopen.

Andrew

Looking forward to it. Cheetah is kind of pricey and is a lifestyle branded gym, and the athletic club is nice but a little pricey as well.

I am not quite sure that I see the similarities, but if they are the same developer/style, its a pretty clear indication of corruption in our ward. I sincerely doubt LA Fitness from California would happen to voluntarily select the same contractor who built a small Chicago library (and perhaps the Walgreens too?) with out it being a stipulation. If the buildings weren’t so bland and ugly, it wouldn’t add so much insult to injury. Contracts to the company that kicks back!

I hope LA FITNESS does not consider in putting a gym in this location otherwise all the gang bangers wil be in this location but other thatn that great addition to the neighborhood and now I dont have to go all the way to the awfully howard location LA Fitness..

i hope LA FITNESS does not consider putting a pool in this location otherwise all the gang bangers will be in this location on than that great addition to Edgewater..Now I will not travel so far to the Howard LA FITNESS location..

Guest

I would rather perfer that Xport Fitness would have come to this location but I am ok with LA FITNESS…

I would rather have had XSPORT FITNESS coming to EDGEWATER but I am happy with LA FITNESS.

George

Know No Limits at Clark and Hood has done a very nice job for the neighborhood and there is a nice club in the Sovereign at Kenmore and Granville. It’s nice to see investment in the community, but I would hate to see a chain hurt independent clubs who set up in the neighborhood years ago. Between those two and Cheetah, there is not a lack of fitness centers in Edgewater.

The link to Master Shin Martial Arts goes to some school in another state. The school Master Kyung Sun Shin runs in the Hancock building is the Military Arts Institute: http://www.militaryartsinstitute.com

ScottS

I hope LA Fitness keeps the original facade design of its new building. The original facade would keep away the “sterile” trend in this neighborhood. If they remove the facade…what a shame.

Evelyn

i need Hackcok Fabrics more than I need a gym. I am disabled and now I have no good alternative for fabric, notions etc. LA Fitness is not all that and a bag of chips. Landlord just got greedy that is all.

urbaneddie

UPDATE … It looks like the original exterior will be (mostly) restored, the renderings posted are now out-of-date due to the discovery that much of the original exterior detail is still in place (after they removed the metal siding), including the Studebaker logo carved in stone at top!

(Confirmed by Alderman Osterman’s office via email today)

Vinny C

This makes me soooo happy! When I saw “Studebaker” on top of the building, I practically squealed. It is so cool, and they must feature that history!